Alex Salmond has backed the Leveson report and gave the strongest indication
yet he will set up a statutory ombudsman and council to regulate Scotland’s
press.

The First Minister said Lord Justice Leveson’s recommendations “put us very much in the territory” of the system used in Ireland where an independent council and ombudsman rule on complaints against newspapers and magazines.

He said he will consult opposition parties before making a final decision and task a panel headed by a senior judge to explore how the report’s findings are implemented.

But Labour, the Tories and Liberal Democrats all urged Mr Salmond to stand aside from the process after the Leveson report was highly critical of his dealings with Rupert Murdoch.

The Daily Telegraph disclosed on Tuesday how regulation of the written press is devolved to the Scottish Parliament, allowing the First Minister to introduce a system that gives newspapers less freedom than in England.

Mr Salmond said yesterday: “I am supportive of the conclusions of Lord Leveson, who has set out clearly the difference between statutory regulation of the press on the one hand and the argument for statutory underpinning of self-regulation on the other.

“That puts us very much in the territory of the Press Council of Ireland which I think might well provide a good template for the way forward. Clearly, we will have to be satisfied that this can be done within the necessary context of a free press.”

The Irish ombudsman enjoys statutory recognition and is tasked with taking complaints from members of the public.

This is complemented by a 13-man press council that is independent of the government and media, tasked with overseeing the code of practice for newspapers and magazines.

Earlier, Mr Salmond used First Minister’s Questions to invite the opposition parties for talks to try and reach a consensus on how to take forward the report.

He said an independent panel would then consider how best to implement the cross-party agreement. Its six members would constitute a current or recent Court of Session judge as chairman and five non-politicians.

Johann Lamont agreed Lord Justice Leveson’s report appeared “sensible” as it rejected full state control but did require independent regulation backed up by law.

But she was unconvinced a different system should be used in Scotland than England and added: “After reading Lord Leveson’s comments in his report I am convinced that Alex Salmond is not the man to lead any form of press regulation.”

Willie Rennie, her Liberal Democrat counterpart, said the First Minister had attracted more criticism in the report than any other British politician.

“It is not clear to me how Mr Salmond is going to be able to convene a cross-party group of leaders to take forward the report given he has been so heavily criticised in the report,” Mr Rennie said.

Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Tory leader, said: “I think it would be wise for the First Minister to take a step back from the process he announced today and allow another minister to represent the Scottish Government in the proposed cross-party talks."